Carrie left a comment in response to my previous FB post (which I'm saving here) that she was continuing on but not moving on. That seems to be a profound distinction. I had begun doing the fall blog catch-up when we got the call on 10-23. I will continue to work on that as I feel like working on it. I will also begin to capture some of the FB thoughts here, as well as start blogging. I have been writing pages and pages in my journal. Some of that processing will find its way to the blog.
It's always a bit of a guess as to when fall ends and winter begins in Alaska. The calendar claims it is fall. We woke to a distinctly winter feel this morning. It's not our "first" snow but it is certainly going to hang around for a bit. Though it was uncommonly late this year we knew winter 2023/24 would eventually arrive. She did with great fan fare!
Just how much snow did we get? Allie cleared the deck on Wednesday night. All of THIS is new.... overnight. It measured 12 inches in the morning and continued to come down most of the day. It is wet and sloppy snow. It has packed down quite a bit, so I have no real number for you...a LOT of snow.
I made a hot breakfast for Michael and I after we shoveled. We congratulated ourselves on getting ONE THING done so early in the day. Michael spent over an HOUR on hold with Social Security. They had sent a request for more info, but their form was wrong and when he called the number, we were supposed to call he got a message the number was no longer in service. An hour on hold for her to say she didn't really know, and he should make the changes and then take the form to the office in Anchorage. In the past the office in town has said they weren't sure, and he should call the 800 number. Michael had a medical appointment so decided to attend that and see how the roads were before committing to a trip to Anchorage. In the end he came home, made the changes on the form and faxed it into the number we were given. I sure hope that works. We are still waiting to hear Tricare has fixed their snafu so the VA can find all our family members.
Jamin is paying for snow removal for us this winter. We were excited when the truck showed up. He made one pass and promptly got stuck...no tread on his tires. Michael helped him put chains on and worked with gravel etc to tow him out. He didn't quite do the job we expected...but it didn't take 6 hours of back-breaking work either. LOL
Schools are closed. Allie attended her class via zoom. The girls spent most of the day working on homework.
I took care of online thank you notes and messages yesterday and worked on more "real life" thank you messages today. I also got on the treadmill again and TURNED IT ON this time. I did a mile before I felt it was time to get off and think about life. That counts as three things besides grieving I did today. I think that's enough for the day.
Stacia dusted off her cross-country skis and took Millie out for a bit of exercise. Millie LOVES these outings.
Carrie and Livie snuggled on the couch with hot chocolate and watched Christmas movies.
JBER declared the road conditions were black. Target was having a one-day sale that Krista was determined to get for one of the kids. She walked to Target and snagged the deal. I love her determination. They found out their neighbor's father had worked with Weidner for 25 years and had worked with Josiah. Small world.
 |
| Photo from Krista |
 |
| Photo from Jared |
Arielle and the boys made a snow hill to slide, and they made their first snowman of the year.
 |
| Photo from Arielle |
Bre's washer/dryer broke down. Laundry must be done. Her brothers, Alex and Nolan, live next door and agreed to let her use their laundry set up....transporting the laundry was an adventure.
 |
| Photo from Bre |
Bre's darlings played in the snow and then enjoyed a hot chocolate party. Bre discovered they were out of the good chocolate and only had the sugar free kind she keeps on hand for GG and I. She posted in a family thread and Cory showed up on her doorstep with a new container of hot chocolate.
.jpg) |
| Photo from Bre |
.jpg) |
| Photo from Bre |
 |
| Photo from JaRissa |
We enjoyed an eclectic dinner. I had two Costco meals from Aaron and Elise left. I threw both in the oven as we were all home for dinner. Yadira showed up with tamales. The meatloaf took forever to cook...so we'll have it later.... tonight, we had Ravioli, tamales and cauliflower rice.
We had been watching shows like Person of Interest, White Collar, NCIS....and those are simply out for the time being. They hit in a new way. Carrie said she and Liv were watching Christmas movies. Hmm....no crime, no shooting or murder, any sadness resolved in quick order...for the first time since 10-23 we gathered to watch something after dinner. We settled on a couple of Hallmark Christmas movies. Who would have guessed?
Another day passed.
